Joy Thornburg Melton, Safe Sanctuaries for Ministers: Reducing the Risk of Abuse in the Church. Discipleship Resources, 2009.
Referenced in: Church Conflict – Congregational Trauma, Ministerial Misconduct
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
Melton is the author, Safe Sanctuaries: Reducing the Risk of Abuse in the Church for Children and Youth, which has become one of the most widely used resources on the subject. This text, Safe Sanctuaries for Ministers, addresses the same general issue of church-related ethics, but is targeted more specifically to ministers on how to conduct themselves in a way that reflects character and well-defined relationships. Applications are made in the area of finances, self-care, and interpersonal relationships. It is strong on the clergy-laity distinction, which may not resonate with evangelicals, but most of the insights are easily translated into other faith traditions. A perusal of the Table of Contents should help ministers assess the value for their situations.
From the Publisher
Melton understands the need to educate clergy concerning basics of ethical practice within their particular leadership role in the church. She also helps clergy become aware of the potential traps they face: isolation, improper self-care, and lack of accountability. Safe Sanctuaries for Ministers explores three large areas of special concern to clergy:
- Counseling and the potential improprieties within the counseling relationship
- Finances and the potential improprieties related to church finance
- Sexuality and potential for sexual misconduct.
Melton writes not only for clergy, but also those who work with pastors, such as Staff-Parish Relations Committees or Church Relations Committees.
About the Author
Joy Thornburg Melton is a Christian educator and a family and church law attorney in Atlanta, GA. An ordained deacon in the North Georgia Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church, she has written United Methodist curriculum and the books Safe Sanctuaries: Reducing the Risk of Child Abuse in the Church and Safe Sanctuaries for Youth. Joy has become a recognized national leader in the area of developing abuse prevention policies. She has provided training and consultation for numerous annual conferences and other groups on this topic. For the last several years, Rev. Melton has been working with her conference in the area of risk reduction for children and abuse issues. Recently she has been providing risk reduction management training for the camp counselors at Camp Glisson in North Georgia. She is uniquely qualified to understand both the legal and church issues related to abuse with the church.
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